Kingpin Pinbox Bike Rack

[tom39]

So I was looking for a way to carry bikes on my 8288ss and found a few pics of DIY ideas where the bikes are carried on the nose of the kingpin pinbox.
In my DIY as cheap as possible, I scrounged through my hoarder piles of supplies to find enough stuff to put together a bracket that will mount to the nose of my 8288ss. I then scoured Craigslist in search of a cheap hitch-mount bike rack and I found an almost new Thule (model 958) for under half of the cost of new. All together I only have $107.29 invested which is $100 for the bike rack and $7.29 for the paint and hardware. All of the metal, including the 2" receiver blank I had in my hoard pile which was collected for free over the past 10yrs so I don't count that into the cost.
I just painted it this evening and haven't mounted it but I thought that I would share my progress.
Thursday I will mount it and check for cab clearance. I am keeping my fingers crossed and will let you know how it works out.

Thanks for looking,
Tom G

[ependydad]

Looks great! I've carried my bikes for many miles that way and love it.

Be prepared for people to come talk to you about it. I just had a couple of guys stop by yesterday as I was fixing to leave Fort Wilderness.

[18CrewDually]

It definitely is a conversation piece. This is the second one for myself and have built them for friends. It's the way to go!
We carry up to 4 bikes.

[tom39]

This is definitely encouraging that I have made the right choice. 05CrewDually, I see that you mounted yours to a Trailair. My plan is to add that upgrade next year and it is good to see that the rack is still a possibility.
Thank you both for sharing, I really appreciate it.

Tom G

[itat]

Nice looking setups Ependydad and 05CrewDually. Do you have long bed pickups? Looking at the pictures makes me wonder if you'd have clearance issues with a short bed.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by tom39

This is definitely encouraging that I have made the right choice. 05CrewDually, I see that you mounted yours to a Trailair. My plan is to add that upgrade next year and it is good to see that the rack is still a possibility.
Thank you both for sharing, I really appreciate it.

Tom G

I had mine on a traditional pin box and then sold that hitch when I got my trail air. My father-in-law made a new one for the new pin box (the top of this is flat vs. the old one which was angled). Love it.

Originally Posted by itat

Nice looking setups Ependydad and 05CrewDually. Do you have long bed pickups? Looking at the pictures makes me wonder if you'd have clearance issues with a short bed.

Long bed, yes.

Here's what it looks like with 3 adult bikes.

[18CrewDually]

Originally Posted by itat

Nice looking setups Ependydad and 05CrewDually. Do you have long bed pickups? Looking at the pictures makes me wonder if you'd have clearance issues with a short bed.

Yes, longbed dually (wouldn't have it any other way).

But for a short bed you could possibly design a mount or use a rack for only 2 bikes. There definitely would be some measuring needed.

[tom39]

ependydad, thanks for the great pic and info. That really reinforced my determination to upgrade to the trailair in the spring. Problem is that I now only have 6mo to convince my wife that spending $1k on a new pinbox is a frugal and worthwhile investment.

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by ependydad

I had mine on a traditional pin box and then sold that hitch when I got my trail air. My father-in-law made a new one for the new pin box (the top of this is flat vs. the old one which was angled). Love it. Long bed, yes. Here's what it looks like with 3 adult bikes.

Your FIL did a nice job.

[offduty11]

Originally Posted by 05CrewDually

It definitely is a conversation piece. This is the second one for myself and have built them for friends. It's the way to go!
We carry up to 4 bikes.

Nice job you can build me one anytime!

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

Your FIL did a nice job.

Thanks. A long time ago, I posted about the first one and got a ton of compliments on his welds.

http://learntorv.com/diy-fifth-wheel...rack-pictures/

[18CrewDually]

Originally Posted by offduty11

Nice job you can build me one anytime!

I have my first one still just laying around. My friend used it for a little while until I swapped out his pinbox for air-ride too.
It's on a 1621 pin box. Bolts on with a few bolts. Sorry for the crummy pic. PM if you're interested.

[tom39]

Well I finally got it mounted and bikes loaded. The receiver is rock solid and hanging the bikes takes about 2min.

[tom39]

[dblr]

Looks great, nice job!!!!!!!!

[tom39]

Originally Posted by dblr

Looks great, nice job!!!!!!!!

Thanks, we used it this weekend and really enjoyed how easy it was to take our bikes.

[EXGMTech]

I needed to add a bracket to keep the bike rack still in the receiver as it tended to rock back and forth going down the road, Here's a shot of the one I built. Used grade 8 bolts to secure.

[tom39]

Originally Posted by EXGMTech

I needed to add a bracket to keep the bike rack still in the receiver as it tended to rock back and forth going down the road, Here's a shot of the one I built. Used grade 8 bolts to secure.

Looks great, is the eye hook to lock and secure the bikes?

[EXGMTech]

yes

[tom39]

Originally Posted by EXGMTech

yes

I am going to borrow that idea. Thank you for sharing.